


Flowers in the Snow

by Hanatamago



Category: Fire Emblem: Fuukasetsugetsu | Fire Emblem: Three Houses
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Dedue owns a flower shop, Fluff, Getting Together, Language of Flowers, M/M, Medium Burn
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-12-31
Updated: 2019-12-30
Packaged: 2021-02-27 07:40:52
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,843
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22043467
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Hanatamago/pseuds/Hanatamago
Summary: Ashe fiddled with the buttons on his coat, “I thought they might spruce things up. I’m actually not great with flowers, I mostly just grow herbs.”“Herbs are useful.” He punched a few numbers into the register.“Yeah, but they’re not as pretty..."A winter full of flowers, each with a different meaning for Ashe to discover along the way.
Relationships: Ashe Duran | Ashe Ubert/Dedue Molinaro
Comments: 6
Kudos: 30





	Flowers in the Snow

**Author's Note:**

> The flower shop AU has finally arrived! Just a bit of fun, casual fluff :)

Winter is coming.

Well, sort of. Winter was actually already here, about two weeks ago, but that wasn’t nearly as exciting as saying _‘Winter is coming’_ all serious and foreboding as they did in that show Felix watched. ‘Watched’ was also sort of misleading, because Felix had already watched it all before - several times. Once by himself, once to try and get Ashe into it (too much blood!), and again with whatever poor souls he roped into days-long marathons in their apartment every time they started a new season. Ashe made snacks.

Unhealthy medieval fantasy obsession or not, Felix was a good roommate in most ways. He was quiet and took care of the cats, and he didn’t even mind that Ashe named them after his favorite book characters! Well, he made fun of them from time to time when the supposedly honorable knights knocked aside vases and swiped food from the countertops, but he also let them nap on his laptop keyboard without disruption. Felix was alright, as far as Ashe was concerned.

Anyway, all this to say that winter _was_ in fact well on its way, and Ashe prepared to cull his garden for the colder months. Sage, rosemary, thyme - Ashe planted all sorts of nice cooking herbs that could weather the colder months, although it was high time to prune them all back into order after such a crazy fall harvest. He had more mint and basil than he knew what to do with! Hopefully, Felix wouldn’t mind eating pesto for the next few weeks…

Still, Ashe always missed tending to his community garden plot in the colder months. In some ways, low-maintenance plants were a blessing, but he felt ‘zen’ (in Mercedes’ words) when he tended to all the little weeds and flowers of his spring gardens. He had other hobbies, sure, but fishing wasn’t fun in the cold either, and his favorite authors hadn’t released a new book in years. Plenty of new fantasy books came out each year, but few managed to really pin down the glory and complexity of his favorite tales of arcane scholars and honorable knights. Of course, there were fan-made stories, too, and Ashe had certainly read plenty of those…

But no! Ashe needed a nice, offline, cold-weather hobby! Mercedes suggested knitting or crochet, and while his fingers were certainly dexterous enough, he couldn’t quite wrap his brain around the knots, and he always got lost in the confusing patterns. What the heck does a half double even mean? And why isn’t it the same as a single? These questions haunted Ashe at night. He promised Mercedes he’d give the yarn arts another go at some point, but until then, Ashe decided to plant a few indoor flowers to take care of during the winter months. He’d also try to move a small mint plant inside; nothing beats fresh mint for tea and non-alcoholic cocktails! 

Though Ashe would consider himself fairly skilled with herbs, the flowers he planted never took to the garden quite as readily. He could take care of them for a while, sure, but they were just so… finicky! Still, practice makes perfect, and Ashe wasn’t about to give up so soon. But what kind of flowers should he buy? Ashe liked violets - they were easy - but he usually planted those in the warmer months anyway. Succulents seemed to be all the craze these days, but he didn’t know much about those. Maybe he could ask for a recommendation at the store?

Annette was kind enough to give him a book on ‘floriography’ for his birthday before last. Maybe Felix had a point that a book on ‘the language of flowers’ was the last thing most twenty-one-year-old guys would want for their birthday, but Ashe was always a bit peculiar, and Annette nailed his taste in gifts. He loved flipping through the elegant, silver-lined illustrations that looked like they were torn (or cut really delicately) out of a fancy medieval tome. Some of the flowers even had short little stories that went with them, all written in legibly adapted cursive lettering. Maybe he could pick something meaningful...

* * *

A few days later, Ashe shrugged on his winter coat and made for a tiny flower shop a few blocks down the street. He hadn’t noticed it pop up, but Mercedes recommended the place, so it must be nice. A few blocks turned into several, but Ashe braved the cold. It was worth it for a cute flower shop, only he wished he’d thrown on a few extra layers under his admittedly sort of worn-out purple coat.

Soon enough, he stumbled upon a rather modest wooden door on the corner. The paint seemed new, so maybe the shop hadn’t been around for too long. Ashe didn’t see a store sign, although a small card in the window claimed they were open. Well... It matched Mercedes' description and several interesting potted plants lined the display window, so this must be the right place. Ashe hugged his coat close and stepped through the door. A tiny bell above the door chimed to greet him. How cute!

On closer inspection, Ashe didn’t recognize a few of the plants by the window. Some were mysterious succulents, potted in sand and rock-beds. Other, more traditional-looking flowers bloomed in such vivid colors that Ashe might have assumed they were actually painted. Maybe they were tropical or something? Ashe had always lived in a relatively mild climate, though it was much colder here in Fhirdiad than it had been in Gaspard, his hometown.

Now, where to begin… The shop itself was fairly well stocked, especially for its size. The front was mostly small bouquets and planted starter flowers, but the back had all kinds of gardening stuff too! They had the standard general potting mixes, but also all sorts of fancy soil blends with different acidity levels and textures for the discerning gardener. Ashe certainly liked to garden, but he wasn’t quite _that_ advanced yet. One huge set of shelves held assorted pots of all shapes and sizes, and few smaller racks housed boxes of seeds for dozens of different plants, all sorted by type and growing season. Every corner of the store had something pretty or completely new to him. Gosh, Ashe could just wander around in here for ages!

In total, Ashe needed: a pot for the flowers, flower seeds for the flowers, and new soil for the herb garden and potting soil for the flowers. 

Alright - not too much to remember, and he could get it all in one trip, though it would get pretty heavy. Plus, since he technically didn’t _need_ the new flowers, Ashe would draw from his budget of extra tips from the bakery. Every so often, he could treat himself once rent and groceries were all accounted for, and since Mercedes let him take home extra sweets they’d have to throw out otherwise, he’d saved up quite a bit recently. 

Soil came last since Ashe would have to pick the type based on which flowers he chose, and he didn’t want to lug a big bag around the store in the meanwhile. For flowers… The array of seeds was almost overwhelming. They had all sorts of flowers, from cute little daisies to ornate irises and patterned tulips. Some for huge box planters and bushes, some for indoor pots, and some seeds for climbing ivy and the like! As pretty as that sounded, Ashe couldn’t find the space for a trellis in their tiny apartment. Still, Ashe wanted to plant them all - eventually, of course! Ugh, it was too hard to choose!

Pots. Ashe could start with pots. They had all sorts of sizes and classic plain clay and plastic pots. When Ashe was younger, he and his siblings would paint white clay pots with tiny bottles of acrylic paint. He was no artist, but those pots were still his favorite. Ashe wished he could have saved some, as a reminder.

A small starter pot on one of the top shelves caught his eye - an ornate piece of red clay decorated with intricate auburn engravings. Symbols of some sort… They almost looked alchemical, like the Wiccan stuff Annette was so fond of, or runes in those fantasy games Felix’s friends liked to play. They must have meant something, but Ashe could only wonder what. Even without knowing their meaning, he still found them quite beautiful. Hopefully, it was something about nature that would encourage his flowers to take root! He could look it up when he got home.

Ashe stood up on his tiptoes, just barely reaching the outer edge of the shelf. The very tips of his fingers brushed up against the ceramic, but he couldn’t get much leverage. Maybe if he pushed a bit-

No! Suddenly, the pot toppled over the shelf, crashing to the ground where it would surely shatter into a billion pieces. Ashe stumbled back, throwing his hands over his face to brace for the incoming shards of ceramic…

But the crash never came. 

Instead, Ashe peeked through the cracks in his fingers to find a large, _large_ man with perfect, sun-bronzed skin and rippling muscles towering over him, clay pot in hand. Deep lines carved into his hands, splitting and flowing along his roughened palms. Flannel sleeves rolled up over his elbows, exposing toned forearms peppered with silvery-white scratches. 

Ashe probably should have said something when he met the man’s deep, concerned emerald eyes, but he was just too mesmerized by… everything! The powerful cut of his jaw, his long alabaster hair tied back into a clean bun, and the thin scars that flecked his clean-shaven face - he was just so, so devastatingly handsome and mysterious, just like the stoic heroes in his books. Ashe just wanted to know him, to know everything about him and know the feel of those scars on his skin. Were they from gardening? Maybe he kept a lot of rose bushes, or maybe he was some sort of rugged vigilante who kept the streets safe from evil at night. Okay, that last one was a stretch, but still, he was just so… 

“You dropped this.” Ashe nearly fainted. If his _everything else_ hadn’t already been enough, his voice was so deep and calm, and yet that rumbling baritone sent shivers down his spine. Shivers! Ashe had only been looking at the man for five seconds, if not less, and still, all the words evaporated off his tongue. Goddess, snap out of it, Ashe! It would be rude to fantasize about a man literally right in front of him!

“Sorry!” Ashe squeaked, “Goddess, I’m so clumsy sometimes, I don’t know what happened!”

“It is alright.” The man handed Ashe the pot. “I had not considered that the top shelf might be inaccessible. Do you require any other assistance?” He spoke far too formally, but his voice was gentle and apologetic as though Ashe wasn’t the one who just very nearly broke one of his pots.

“No, no there’s-” Ashe grabbed a random purple seed packet from the smaller shelves, “Um, that’s all, actually! Sorry again, I didn’t mean to trouble you.”

“It is no trouble. You are a customer.” Right, Ashe was a customer, and this man was presumably an employee. Or, considering the size of the store, maybe even the owner. Goddess, Ashe could never come back here again if that was the case. The pot incident was embarrassing enough, but he could hardly buy his plants in peace with this ridiculously statuesque man right _there_!

“I apologize if I have made you uncomfortable.” Uncomfortable? Well, perhaps Ashe was uncomfortable in the way that Ashe couldn’t bear the heat flooding into his cheeks or the sudden tightness in his chest, but the man couldn’t know about those things, so…

Oh. That slight downturn in his lips, the furrow of his brow - and his voice was so soft, he almost seemed… ashamed? But of what? He’d just saved the day, as far as Ashe was concerned. Ashe had only lived in Fhirdiad for a short time, but he’d learned how strange the people got about some things. From the outside, Ashe was a slender wisp of a boy, and that other man was much, much larger and stronger than he was. Maybe he was self-conscious about that? Granted, his stature might be quite intimidating, except that the second he opened his mouth, Ashe could hear the kindness in his voice.

And come on. He worked at-slash-owned a _flower shop_.

“O-oh, it’s nothing, you just startled me, that’s all.” Ashe flushed, “You’re um… You’re really tall, I don’t know how you managed to sneak up on me!”

“I see.” He took a seat behind a desk neatly stacked with seasonal seed packets and tiny garden accessories. No garden gnomes, luckily (Ashe suspected they were all haunted with wicked fey spirits). Ashe followed him to a tiny cash register and handed over his goods to be rung up. “Lavender roses. Good choice. They will need a larger pot after some time.”

“Thank you…” Ashe fiddled with the buttons on his coat, “I thought they might spruce things up. I’m actually not great with flowers, I mostly just grow herbs.”

“Herbs are useful.” He punched a few numbers into the register.

“Yeah, but they’re not as pretty. Did you grow the flowers in the window?”

“Yes.” Ashe noticed the tiniest hint of a smile tug at the corners of his lips. “Fifteen sixty-eight is your total.”

“Oh, um, here.” Ashe handed him a few bills, pointedly trying to ignore the brush of skin on skin. Goddess, this was so embarrassing, the man was just doing his job and here he was, uncontrollably swooning over a financial transaction! “T-They’re really lovely. I’ve never seen flowers like that before.”

“They are difficult to grow in this climate. They prefer the north.” He tucked Ashe’s seed packet into the pot with his receipt before handing it back.

“I suppose you must be a pretty good gardener then.” Ahhh, that was dumb! Of course he was, he worked at a gardening store.

“Each flower is unique, you simply must pay close attention and learn their needs. If you require further assistance with your garden, you may feel free to ask me any questions you may have.”

“Ah, thanks!” Ashe beamed, “That would be amazing.” 

Alright. Wow. This could be nice.

Maybe he didn’t notice Ashe tripping over himself, or maybe he just didn’t mind. It was a cute little place - a quiet sanctuary filled with flowers and warmth, all hidden away from the rest of the world like a secret treasure just for those who knew where to look. Ah, he should really thank Mercedes. Even as he walked farther and farther away, that nice man stuck in his thoughts. Ashe could have said so many things better, he could have calmed the stutter in his voice and tried not to look so silly. He replayed the conversations in his head, hanging on the words he fumbled and all the distracting little things he remembered for no good reason, like that one of his scars cut through his lip, and-

He should really stop obsessing.

Ashe rushed back to his apartment, pot in tow, and collapsed nearly as soon as he broke through the door. Calm, he could be calm, like that whole day didn’t just happen and he wasn’t absolutely, completely, wholeheartedly infatuated with-

Ashe didn’t even know his name! How on earth did he miss that? And what if he wasn’t there next time he went? Could he even go back!? Sure, the man offered his help and he was so kind and mysterious and lovely and Ashe’s thoughts rushed on like a runaway train with no sign of stopping. His mind lingered on his denim apron and the way his flannel bunched up around his biceps, and those deep, piercing eyes of his…

He might have to go back, just to ask questions - questions about the flowers, of course! At least in the meantime, he could plant what he had, although… 

Ah, Goddess help him, Ashe had forgotten the potting soil! Ugh, he must have been so caught up in the moment and he just managed to forget the most critical piece of actually _planting_ the darn flowers.

Well, that settled it, he’d have to go back tomorrow. For the flowers.

* * *

**Rose, Lavender**

_As with other varieties of rose noted herein, lavender roses bear a special significance that has evolved over time. Since times of old, purple colors have traditionally been associated with royalty and splendor. Ancient monarchs would spare no expense in procuring rare dyes and embroidery for their cloaks, often in vivid hues and ornate fabrics to ostentatiously proclaim their wealth. It is unsurprising, then, that lavender roses signify intense and extravagant declarations of love. The lavender rose symbolizes deep enchantment and love at first sight. Those enraptured by feelings of love have historically used lavender roses to express their strong romantic feelings and intentions._

**Author's Note:**

> This is just a happy, low-key side project while I write other heavy stuff on the side, so it might update super irregularly or rarely!
> 
> Each chapter will be based on a flower and it's meaning, so if you have a flower that you want me to include (or any ideas), leave a comment and I'll see if I can make it happen :)
> 
> Come say hi on Twitter :)  
> [@hanatamagos](https://twitter.com/hanatamagos)


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